Cliffords Mesne
Cliffords Mesne ⓘ (Clifford's Mesne on some maps) is an English village in Gloucestershire, in Newent civil parish, two miles (3.2 km) south-west of the town. The village became the home of the autobiographical author Winifred Foley from the mid-1970s, after the success of her first book of Gloucestershire reminiscences, A Child in the Forest.[1]
Facilities
Cliffords Mesne possessed a public house, the Yew Tree Inn (now closed[2]). The village is close to May Hill, which is owned by the National Trust, and to the now-closed-to-the-public[3] International Centre for Birds of Prey.[4] The village hall was refurbished in 2013 and holds regular social and musical events.[5]
Heritage
The small Anglican church is dedicated to St Peter. Designed by E. S. Harris, it was built in 1882 of stone, with a central bellcote, a nave, a chancel, a south porch and a south vestry. It has contemporary stained glass dedicated to a local falconer and a memorial tablet to two local men who died on active service in the Second World War.[6] The church parish is merged with Gorsley. It shares clergy with the benefice of Newent and lies in the Diocese of Gloucester.[7]
An earlier stone church, built in Gothic style in 1872 and extended in 1877, became the village school, which is now closed.[8] The building serves as a non-denominational village hall.[9]
Two outlying buildings are Grade II listed: Ravenshill Farmhouse, north of the village, most of which dates from the late 17th and early 18th centuries;[10] and an 18th-century cider house at Hay Farm, south-west of the village.[11]
The combined population of Cliffords Mesne and Gorsley was 1320 in 1876.[12]
References
- ^ Winifred Foley, A Child in the Forest (London: BBC, 1974). ISBN 0-563-12605-1; Back in the Forest (London: Macdonald, 1981). ISBN 0-354-04354-4.
- ^ https://camra.org.uk/pubs/yew-tree-cliffords-mesne-130835
- ^ https://icbp.org/
- ^ Guardian obituary Retrieved 19 October 2010.; National Trust: Retrieved 22 August 2011. Archived 16 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Cliffords Mesne Village Hall website
- ^ Pictures of the church. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ A Church Near You: Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ Retrieved 22 August 2011.
- ^ Retrieved 22 August 2011. Archived 27 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Historic England. "Ravenshill Farmhouse (1248344)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
- ^ Historic England. "Cider House (1390891)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 14 July 2025.
- ^ Morris & Co. Commercial Directory & Gazetteer of Newent, 1876: Retrieved 22 August 2011.
51°54′N 2°26′W / 51.900°N 2.433°W
